Dewey Clayton | Voting rights under siege

4:49 PM,
Aug. 16, 2013

Dewey Clayton

Written by

Dewey Clayton
| Special to The Courier-Journal

Many Americans living today have no recollection or real knowledge of the days when African Americans couldn't drink from the same water fountains as whites, couldn't use a public restroom, and couldn't cast a vote in local and national elections.

This year, Aug. 28 marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King's March on Washington. One goal of the march was to implore Congress to pass meaningful civil rights legislation to finally confer full rights of citizenship to the descendants of slaves - including protections that would allow them to vote - especially in the South.